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Information Technology Project Manager Interview Questions and Answers
What are the metrics reported to the client? Schedule, cost, size, progress and defects are the important metrics. Actual metrics will vary depending on the type of engagement. How do you calculate LOCs? There are two types of LOCs: physical and logical. Physical LOCs include comments and white spaces. Logical LOCs include only the programming statements. How do you manage stakeholders? How would you manage a dis-satisfied stakeholder? Effective communication is the key to manage stakeholder expectations. In case of any stakeholder grievances, a meeting can be setup with the stakeholder to understand his/her concerns. Based on the concerns raised, a progressive action plan can be prepared and stakeholder's consent be taken before implementing the action plan. The action plan needs to be revised to the satisfaction of the stakeholder. During the execution of the action plan, stakeholder should be kept apprised of the status on regular basis depending upon the frequency of communication agreed upon. Also, based on the outcome of the action items implemented, action plan needs to be updated. How do you identify risks? Brainstorming or interviewing stakeholders, documentation review, assumptions analysis. What are various documents maintained for CMMi? Level 2: *''LOE / PO / SOW'' *''Requirements Traceability Matrix'' *''Requirements Change Log'' *''Impact Analysis Document'' *''Effort, Defect and Cost Estimation Sheets'' *''Project Schedule'' *''Project Plan'' *''Status Reports'' *''Milestone Reports'' *''Engagement Feedback Reports'' *''Audit Reports'' *''Release Checklists'' *''CM Plan'' *''CM Audit Reports'' Level 3: *''Signed-off Requirements Document'' *''Acceptance Plan / Criteria'' *''Design Standards'' *''Coding Standards'' *''Design Review Records'' *''Test Plans and Test Results'' *''Project Closure'' *''Project Training Plan'' *''Tailoring Document'' Level 4: *''Strategies to meet project goals'' *''SPC'' Level 5: *''DP Report'' *''List of Improvements'' How do you pass-on the learning from defects? By conducting DP meet and sharing the results with the team. Also, KM activities can be utilized to share knowledge. What is milestone in MPP? It is a logical end for any phase and is indicated by zero-duration activity in an MPP. What are the outputs of Initiating process group?Project charter, Stakeholder Register and Stakeholder Management Strategy. In which process group scope is defined? Planning. What is CPI and SPI? CPI = EV / AC SPI = EV / PV How do you describe a project with CPI < 1 and SPI > 1? What can be done to rectify and bring the project in line? Project is ahead of schedule and over budget. Since we have more time at hand, we can look at the possibility of reducing team size to complete the remaining work. A project is in good health but still the client is raising concerns. How will you address it? Client not being happy or raising concerns is a sign of bad relation or not having complete trust. We will make our Status Report more presentable to pass our achievements. We will also try to understand client concerns and will try to deliver better value than expected. At the same time, by showing Delivered Defect metrics, we can make client aware about Quality of work delieverd. What if there are risks which you cannot handle or you don't have control but unavoidable? One of the Risk Mitigation Strategy is to Transfer Risk. What if one of the critical team members is leaving the project. How will you handle such scenario? A KM plan needs to be prepared and executed. Work load should be distributed so that there is minimum risk for project. What if there is attrition in your team and people are not available who can replace them quickly? Weekly KM activity should help remove dependency on people and work load distribution should help reduce impact of not having new employees available immediately. The following three tasks form the entire critical path of the project network. The three estimates of each of these tasks are tabulated below. How long would the project take to complete expressed with an accuracy of one standard deviation? Task Optimistic Most likely Pessimistic A 15 25 47 B 12 22 35 C 16 27 32 Choices: A. 75.5 ' '''B. 75.5 +/- 7.09 ' '''C. 75.5 +/- 8.5 D. 75.5 +/- 2.83 Choice B is the correct answer. The critical path is the longest duration path through a network and determines the shortest time to complete the project. The PERT estimates of the tasks listed are 27, 22.5 & 26. Therefore, the length of the critical path of the project is 27+22.5+26 = 75.5. The standard deviations of the estimates of the three tasks are determined as (P-O)/6 = 5.33, 3.83 & 2.67 respectively. The standard deviation of the total path is determined as Sq. root (sum of variances), where variance = square of standard deviation. Hence, standard deviation of critical path = Sq. root (28.44+14.69+7.11) = 7.09. Hence choice B is correct while choices A, C and D are incorrect. An organization is certified to a stringent environmental standard and uses that as the key differentiator with its competitors. Alternative identification during scope planning for a particular project has thrown up an expeditious approach to achieve a project need, but this involves a risk of environmental contamination. The team evaluates that the likelihood of the risk is very low. What should the project team do? Choices: ''' '''A. Drop the alternative approach B. Work out a mitigation plan C. Procure an insurance against the risk D. Plan all precautions to avoid the risk Correct Choice: A Explanation: The organization’s reputation being at stake, the threshold for such a risk would be very low. Mitigation plan against an environmental contamination would mean reducing the impact, which may not be a plausible response. Procuring an insurance against the risk would only transfer the monetary impact of the risk, and not the intangible impact like, the reputation of the organization. Planning precautions against the occurrence would still leave an opportunity of occurrence. This cannot be completely avoided. The best option would be to drop the approach – that is, complete avoidance of the risk. After a study of the work processes on a project, a quality audit team reports to the project manager that irrelevant quality standards were being used by the project, which might lead to rework. What was the objective of the project manager in initiating this study? Choices: A. Quality control B. Quality planning C. Checking adherence to processes D. Quality assurance Correct Choice: D Explanation: '' ''Determining validity of quality standards, followed by the project is a ‘quality assurance’ activity. Compliance of work results to required specifications is a ‘quality control’ activity. Determining quality standards is a ‘quality planning’ activity. ‘Checking adherence to processes’ is a quality audit activity to ensure that standard operating procedures or job instruction documents (SOPs or JIDs) are being followed for producing the deliverables of the process. Which of the following is NOT an input to project plan execution? Choices: ''' '''A. Work authorization system B. Project plan C. Corrective action D. Preventive action Correct Choice: A Explanation: '' ''A Project plan is the basis of project plan execution and is a primary input. Work authorization system is a tool used for orchestrating execution of various project tasks. Whereas, Corrective and Preventive actions are inputs to the project plan execution process from various controlling processes. Once the project is complete, the complete set of project records should be put in which of the following? Choices: ''' '''A. Project Archives B. Database C. Storage room D. Project Report Correct Choice: ''A'' Explanation: Project records should be prepared for archiving by the appropriate parties. '''Which of the following is a common format for performance reporting? Choices: A. Pareto Diagrams B. Bar charts C. Responsibility Assignment Matrices D. Control Charts Correct Choice: B Explanation: '' ''Common formats for Performance Reports are, bar charts (also called Gantt Charts), S-curves, histograms and tables etc. If the cost variance is positive and the schedule variance is also positive, this indicates the: Choices: A. Project is under budget and behind schedule B. Project is over budget and behind schedule ''' '''C. Project is under budget and ahead of schedule D. Project is over budget and ahead of schedule Correct Choice: C Explanation: '' ''Positive Schedule Variance means the project is ahead of schedule; Negative Cost Variance means the project is over-budget. During execution of a project, an identified risk event occurs that results in additional cost and time. The project had provisions for contingency and management reserves. How should these be accounted for? Choices: ''' '''A. Contingency reserves B. Residual risks C. Management reserves D. Secondary risks Correct Choice: A Explanation: The question is about correct accounting for risk events that occur and updating the reserves. Reserves are meant for making provisions in cost and schedule, to accommodate for consequences of risk events. Risk events are classified as “unknown unknowns” or “known unknowns”, where “unknown unknowns” are risks that were are not identified and accounted for, while “known unknowns” are risks that were identified and provisions were made for them. Provisions for “unknown unknowns” are in management reserves while those for “known unknowns” are accommodated in contingency reserves. Management reserves are at the discretion of senior management while the contingency reserves are at the project manager’s discretion. Residual and secondary risks are remaining unmitigated risks and resultant risks of mitigation, respectively. These are not reserves. In this case, the risk event is one of the identified risks and therefore, ‘contingency reserve’ is the one where the cost and schedule impact would be accommodated in. Which one of the following is the last step of project closing? Choices: A. Client has accepted the product B. Archives are complete C. Client appreciates your product D. Lessons learnt are documented Correct Choice: B Explanation: '' ''Archiving is the last step in the project closing. Who should be involved in the creation of lessons learned, at closure of a project? Choices: A. Stakeholders B. Project team C. Management of the performing organization D. Project office Correct Choice: A Explanation: ‘Stakeholders’ include everyone who are actively involved in the project or whose interests may be affected as a result of the project execution or completion. The ‘project team’ creates the lessons learned on the project. The role of the ‘project office’ depends on the function defined for it within the performing organization and it could be either facilitating best practices for all projects or could constitute the project team. As lessons learned should capture all variations and what could have been done better for future deployment, ‘stakeholders’ should be involved in creation of lessons learned. An organization has recently started outsourcing work to a low cost, high value, engineering center located in a different country. Which of the following should the project manager provide for the team as a proactive measure? Choices: A. A training course on the laws of the country B. A course on linguistic differences C. An exposure to the cultural differences D. A communication management plan Correct Choice: C Explanation: '' ''Understanding cultural differences is the first step towards an effective communication amongst the project team involving outsourced work from a different country. So, what is needed in this case is ‘an exposure to the cultural differences’, which is being mentioned as choice C. Choice A, that is, ‘a training course on the laws of the country’ is a subject of legal experts and not of the project team. Choice B, that is, ‘ a course on linguistic differences’ would not serve the purpose of understanding and appreciating cultural differences, for better teaming. Choice D, that is, ‘a communication management plan’ is a document that provides data gathering and dissemination amongst stakeholders of the project. It is necessary for the project but does not help in bridging communication gaps across different cultures. While reviewing the progress, the project manager assesses that an activity has been missed out from the implementation plan. A milestone, scheduled to be achieved within another week, would be missed with the current implementation plan. Which of the following is the next best action for the project manager in this situation? Choices: ''' '''A. Report the error and the expected delay B. Omit the status update on the milestone C. Report the error and the planned recovery actions D. Assess alternatives to meet the milestone Correct Choice: D Explanation: '' ''Choice D, that is, ‘assess alternatives to meet the milestone’ indicates confronting the issue with an attempt to resolve the issue. Hence this would be the best approach. Choices A and C, that is, ‘report the error and the expected delay’ or ‘report the error and the planned recovery actions’ do not attempt to solve the problem. An attempt to solve the problem is the next best thing to do in this situation, before reporting the issue correctly. Choice B, that is, ‘omit the status update on the milestone’ is unethical. Which of the following is a tool used to secure expert judgment? Choices: A. Peer review B. Delphi technique C. Expected value technique D. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Correct Choice: B Explanation: '' ''The ‘Delphi technique’ is a commonly used tool to secure expert judgment while initiating a project. ‘Peer review’ is a project selection tool, ‘Expected value’ is a method quantitative risk analysis, and ‘WBS’ is a project planning tool. What should be done by the project manager to ensure that all work in the project is included? Choices: ''' '''A. Create a contingency plan B. Create a risk management plan C. Create a WBS D. Create a scope statement Correct Choice: C Explanation: '' ''A WBS is a deliverable oriented grouping of project components that organizes and defines the total scope of the project. What should a project manager do or follow to ensure clear boundaries for project completion? Choices: ''' '''A. Scope verification B. Complete a scope statement C. Scope definition D. Risk management plan Correct Choice: B Explanation: '' ''The project team must complete a scope statement for developing a common understanding of the project scope among stakeholders. This lists project deliverables – summary level sub-products, whose full and satisfactory delivery marks the completion of the project. Scope verification is the process of securing a formal acceptance of the project scope by stakeholders. Scope definition is the process of subdividing the major project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components. A risk management plan involves setting up processes for identifying and dealing with project risks.